THE A, OF WHALES 69 



They are a species of small toothed whale, from 

 ten to twenty feet long, eight or ten feet in cir- 

 cumference and weighing two or three tons. 

 They were gamboling and tumbling like por- 

 poises. Their black bodies flashed above the sur- 

 face in undulant curves and I wondered if, when 

 seen at a distance, these little cousins of the sperm 

 had not at some time played their part in estab- 

 lishing the myth of the sea serpent. 



" Get ready, Tomas," said Gabriel as we drew 

 near the school. 



" Aye, aye, sir," responded Mendez. 



Pulling away as hard as we could, we shot 

 among the blackfish. Mendez selected a big one 

 and drove his harpoon into its back. Almost at 

 the same time Mr. Lander's boat became fast to 

 another. Our fish plunged and reared half out 

 of water, rolled and splashed about, finally shot 

 around in a circle and died. Mr. Lander's fish 

 was not fatally hit and when it became apparent 

 it would run away with a tub of line, Little 

 Johnny, the boatsteerer, cut adrift and let it go. 

 Mendez cut our harpoon free and left our fish 

 weltering on the water. Blackfish yield a fairly 



